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Intermolecular interactions on inorganic substrates can have a critical impact on the electrochemical and photophysical properties of the materials and subsequent performance in hybrid electronics. Critical to the intentional formation or inhibition of these processes is controlling interactions between molecules on a surface. In this report, we investigated the impact of surface loading and atomic-layer-deposited Al2O3 overlayers on the intermolecular interactions of a ZrO2-bound anthracene derivative as probed by the photophysical properties of the interface. While surface loading density had no impact on the absorption spectra of the films, there was an increase in excimer features with surface loading as observed by both emission and transient absorption. The addition of ALD overlayers of Al2O3 resulted in a decrease in excimer formation, but the emission and transient absorption spectra were still dominated by excimer features. These results suggest that ALD may provide a post-surface loading means of influencing such intermolecular interactions. 

Organic metal halide hybrids with low-dimensional structures at the molecular level have received great attention recently for their exceptional structural tunability and unique photophysical properties. Here we report for the first time the synthesis and characterization of a one-dimensional (1D) organic metal halide hybrid, which contains metal halide nanoribbons with a width of three octahedral units. It is found that this material with a chemical formula C 8 H 28 N 5 Pb 3 Cl 11 shows a dual emission with a photoluminescence quantum efficiency (PLQE) of around 25%. Photophysical studies and density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest the coexisting of delocalized free excitons and localized self-trapped excitons in metal halide nanoribbons leading to the dual emission. 

We report liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) of bulk layered-structure semiconductor, MnIn 2 Se 4 , to nanoscale thick sheets by ultrasonication followed by sequential centrifugation at 2000, 5000, and 7500 rpm. The nanosheets exfoliated by LPE in isopropyl alcohol show an average thickness of 50, 40, and 14 nm, respectively. The smallest of these values corresponds approximately to ten 7-atom thick [Se–In–Se–Mn–Se–In–Se] layers that compose the bulk structure of MnIn 2 Se 4 . Both the bulk material and the exfoliated samples show photoluminescence, but the weak shoulder observed from the indirect band gap emission is obviously suppressed in the nanosheet samples as compared to the bulk sample. Similar to the bulk, the nanosheets isolated at 2000 and 5000 rpm exhibit spin-glass behavior with a freezing temperature of ∼3 K. In contrast, the nanosheets isolated at 7500 rpm do not exhibit any anomalies in their low-temperature magnetic behavior. These results demonstrate the possibility to extend the LPE technique to van-der-Waals materials with several-atom-thick layers. 

The photophysical properties of square planar Pt(II) complexes are often strongly dependent on their self‐assembly modes and intermolecular Pt⋯Pt interactions. Controlling these interactions is important to achieve valuable properties for various applications, such as light‐emitting diodes and environmental sensing devices. Herein, a series of highly luminescent ionic Pt(II) complexes with tunable emission colors are reported, by controlling the molecular structures and interactions in solid state. Four ionic Pt(II) complexes, with a general formula [Pt(C^{^}N)(N^{^}N)]⁺X⁻(C^{^}N = 2‐phenylpyridine or 2‐(2,4‐difluorophenyl)pyridine; N^{^}N = 2,2′‐bipyridine; X⁻= chloride (Cl⁻) or tetraphenylborate (BPh₄⁻), are designed, synthesized, and characterized. Due to the presence of intermolecular Pt⋯Pt interactions, strong metal–metal‐to‐ligand charge transfer (MMLCT) emissions are recorded in all four complexes with color changing from green to deep red in solid state. A high photoluminescence quantum efficiency (PLQE) of 81% is achieved for one of the complexes containing large BPh₄⁻anions, due to the site isolation effects. Detailed structural and photophysical characterizations reveal a clear correlation between the stacking of these Pt(II) complexes and their photophysical properties, which can be well regulated by the molecular structures and counter‐anions.

 

Scintillators, one of the essential components in medical imaging and security checking devices, rely heavily on rare‐earth‐containing inorganic materials. Here, a new type of organic‐inorganic hybrid scintillators containing earth abundant elements that can be prepared via low‐temperature processes is reported. With room temperature co‐crystallization of an aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) organic halide, 4‐(4‐(diphenylamino) phenyl)‐1‐(propyl)‐pyrindin‐1ium bromide (TPA‐PBr), and a metal halide, zinc bromide (ZnBr₂), a zero‐dimensional (0D) organic metal halide hybrid (TPA‐P)₂ZnBr₄with a yellowish‐green emission peaked at 550 nm has been developed. In this hybrid material, dramatically enhanced X‐ray scintillation of TPA‐P⁺is achieved via the sensitization by ZnBr₄²⁻. The absolute light yield (14,700 ± 800 Photons/MeV) of (TPA‐P)₂ZnBr₄is found to be higher than that of anthracene (≈13,500 Photons/MeV), a well‐known organic scintillator, while its X‐ray absorption is comparable to those of inorganic scintillators. With TPA‐P⁺as an emitting center, short photoluminescence and radioluminescence decay lifetimes of 3.56 and 9.96 ns have been achieved. Taking the advantages of high X‐ray absorption of metal halides and efficient radioluminescence with short decay lifetimes of organic cations, the material design paves a new pathway to address the issues of low X‐ray absorption of organic scintillators and long decay lifetimes of inorganic scintillators simultaneously.

 

Zero‐dimensional (0D) organic metal halide hybrids (OMHHs) have recently emerged as a new class of light emitting materials with exceptional color tunability. While near‐unity photoluminescence quantum efficiencies (PLQEs) are routinely obtained for a large number of 0D OMHHs, it remains challenging to apply them as emitter for electrically driven light emitting diodes (LEDs), largely due to the low conductivity of wide bandgap organic cations. Here, the development of a new OMHH, triphenyl(9‐phenyl‐9H‐carbazol‐3‐yl) phosphonium antimony bromide (TPPcarzSbBr₄), as emitter for efficient LEDs, which consists of semiconducting organic cations (TPPcarz⁺) and light emitting antimony bromide anions (Sb₂Br₈²⁻), is reported. By replacing one of the phenyl groups in a well‐known tetraphenylphosphonium cation (TPP⁺) with an electroactive phenylcarbazole group, a semiconducting TPPcarz⁺cation is developed for the preparation of red emitting 0D TPPcarzSbBr₄single crystals with a high PLQE of 93.8%. With solution processed TPPcarzSbBr₄thin films (PLQE of 86.1%) as light emitting layer, red LEDs are fabricated to exhibit an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 5.12%, a peak luminance of 5957 cd m⁻², and a current efficiency of 14.2 cd A⁻¹, which are the best values reported to date for electroluminescence devices based on 0D OMHHs.

 

Tandem‐ion mobility spectrometry/mass spectrometry methods have recently gained traction for the structural characterization of proteins and protein complexes. However, ion activation techniques currently coupled with tandem‐ion mobility spectrometry/mass spectrometry methods are limited in their ability to characterize structures of proteins and protein complexes.

Here, we describe the coupling of the separation capabilities of tandem‐trapped ion mobility spectrometry/mass spectrometry (tTIMS/MS) with the dissociation capabilities of ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) for protein structure analysis.

We establish the feasibility of dissociating intact proteins by UV irradiation at 213 nm between the two TIMS devices in tTIMS/MS and at pressure conditions compatible with ion mobility spectrometry (2–3 mbar). We validate that the fragments produced by UVPD under these conditions result from a radical‐based mechanism in accordance with prior literature on UVPD. The data suggest stabilization of fragment ions produced from UVPD by collisional cooling due to the elevated pressures used here (“UVnoD2”), which otherwise do not survive to detection. The data account for a sequence coverage for the protein ubiquitin comparable to recent reports, demonstrating the analytical utility of our instrument in mobility‐separating fragment ions produced from UVPD.

The data demonstrate that UVPD carried out at elevated pressures of 2–3 mbar yields extensive fragment ions rich in information about the protein and that their exhaustive analysis requires IMS separation post‐UVPD. Therefore, because UVPD and tTIMS/MS each have been shown to be valuable techniques on their own merit in proteomics, our contribution here underscores the potential of combining tTIMS/MS with UVPD for structural proteomics.

 

Metal halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) have emerged as highly promising light emitting materials for various applications, ranging from perovskite light‐emitting diodes (PeLEDs) to lasers and radiation detectors. While remarkable progress has been achieved in highly efficient and stable green, red, and infrared perovskite NCs, obtaining efficient and stable blue‐emitting perovskite NCs remains a great challenge. Here, a facile synthetic approach for the preparation of blue emitting CsPbBr₃nanoplatelets (NPLs) with treatment by an organic sulfate is reported, 2,2‐(ethylenedioxy) bis(ethylammonium) sulfate (EDBESO₄), which exhibit remarkably enhanced photoluminescence quantum efficiency (PLQE) and stability as compared to pristine CsPbBr₃NPLs coated with oleylamines. The PLQE is improved from ≈28% for pristine CsPbBr₃NPLs to 85% for EDBESO₄treated CsPbBr₃NPLs. Detailed structural characterizations reveal that EDBESO₄treatment leads to surface passivation of CsPbBr₃NPLs by both EDBE²⁺and SO₄^2–ions, which helps to prevent the coalescence of NPLs and suppress the degradation of NPLs. A simple proof‐of‐concept device with emission peaked at 462 nm exhibits an external quantum efficiency of 1.77% with a luminance of 691 cd m⁻²and a half‐lifetime of 20 min, which represents one of the brightest pure blue PeLEDs based on NPLs reported to date.